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Musharraf Starts Historic Visit with a Tribute to Gandhi
NEW DELHI, July 14 (IslamOnline & News
Agencies) - The first meeting in two years between the two South Asian superpowers, India
and Pakistan, starts Saturday as the world looks upon the meeting with hopes of ending the half-century dispute over
the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir.
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan was welcomed Friday in the Indian capital, New Delhi, at the start of his summit with the Indian Prime Minster, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
However, India blocked the live TV coverage of Musharraf's official welcome. According to the French News Agency, AFP, the ban was because of sensitivities in broadcasting pictures of an Indian military chief saluting the visiting general.
"The (Indian) government appears to have decided that the sight of an Indian chief (of staff) saluting the Pakistani military ruler is not for public consumption," the Hindustan Times newspaper said.
After the Pakistani 15-member official delegation received a red-carpet welcome, Pakistani High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi was reported as saying: "Really we want to take this thing (Kashmiri issue) forward and I am sure that is the attitude of the Indian Prime Minster."
But the mostly Muslim province of Kashmir, while being the main priority of Musharraf's visit, is not high on the list of the Indian agenda of the meeting.
Both President Musharraf, who meets his Indian counterpart for the first time since he seized power in a military coup in October 1999, and Prime Minister Vajpayee have been trying to dictate the terms of their discussion.
Pakistan insists Kashmir is the key to resolving all other disputes and should therefore be the main focus of the summit agenda.
India is equally adamant in its sovereign claim that Kashmir -- divided between the two countries and claimed by both -- is non-negotiable and that the summit must address issues like trade, cross-border terrorism and confidence-building measures between the nuclear capable rivals.
The Indian leader wants other bilateral issues like trade and cultural links to feature, while Musharraf has made it clear he wants progress on Kashmir first.
The lack of agreement on an agenda has wrapped the summit in a cloak of uncertainty and mutual suspicion, dimming what little hope there was of a genuine breakthrough.
Vajpayee views the territorial status of Kashmir as non-negotiable.
The BBC online service reported that India's strategy in the days running up to the summit, has been to proffer a number of so-called confidence-building measures.
There has been a variety of initiatives such as promising to release 400 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, relaxation on the issuing of visas, offering scholarship to students from Pakistan and reducing tariffs on selected imports.
All have been met with a lukewarm response from Pakistan.
During his visit, Musharraf paid homage in Rajghat to India' independence hero Mahatma
Gandhi. "He devoted his entire life to non-violence and peace" Musharraf wrote in the vistor's book.
Musharraf and Vajpayee will move to the Taj Mahal town of Agra Sunday for the landmark summit. "For more than half a century, the Kashmir dispute has cast a shadow on relations," Musharraf said in a statement issued shortly after his arrival in New Delhi.
"In my talks with the Indian leaders, I will be looking forward to a meaningful, frank and substantial discussion, urging them to join hands with us in resolving this dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people," he said.
"This will facilitate resolution of other issues and lead to full normalization of relations. I am hopeful that my talks with Prime Minister Vajpayee will pave the way for better relations between Pakistan and India."
The decades-old territorial dispute has dogged relations and triggered two full-scale wars since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
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